One Last Chance
by Noraque
Summary: "A pool of blood was now slowly spreading from underneath him on the ground below. A thin red trickle of blood was leaking out of the corner of his mouth, his green eyes staring off into space."- WARNING: MAJOR CHARACTER DEATH


Ziva stared down at his prostrate figure. His new Armani suit, just bought last week as he had so often boasted, was now stained a bright red that was rapidly spreading across the front. A pool of blood was now slowly spreading from underneath him on the ground below. A thin red trickle of blood was leaking out of the corner of his mouth, his green eyes staring off into space. Her heart froze and her blood ran cold at the mere sight of this.

Gibbs, McGee and the remaining gunmen were nowhere in sight- no where to be found. It was as if they had just disappeared into thin air, leaving her alone- with him…

Ziva stared down in terror as her partner, once so full of life and on top of the world, was now lying bleeding out on the ground- wounded… helpless…

"Tony…" She said frantically. "Tony, stay with me!"

She peeled back his blood-soaked jacket and couldn't help but let out a gasp as she saw blood continue to flow from his bullet wound. Quickly, without the slightest thought towards her own safety, she stripped off her own jacket and pressed it against his chest in an effort to stop the bleeding.

She couldn't let this happen… she **wouldn't**. Not to her partner. Not to her best friend.

Not to the man she…

"Ziva…"

She snapped her attention down towards his face. His eyes slowly slid open, revealing those two green orbs she so often had found herself gazing into. So full of warmth- so full of comfort. She had felt that in Somalia- she felt it again now.

"Tony!" She grabbed hold of his hand and held it close, resisting the urge to gasp at how cold and clammy his skin was or how his breathing seemed to be coming out in uneven short gasps. Nothing had ever made her want to be closer to him- right now, all she wanted to do was hold him close and never let him go. She would die first.

Tony looked at her through his semi-closed eyes and gave a smaller, but classic Tony-esque smile. "Quite the lengths I have to go to in order to get you out of your clothes, isn't it Agent David?"

She choked back a laugh that sounded a lot more like a sob. "Tony, just hold on! You are going to be alright. Help will be here shortly. Just remain calm and try to relax."

He merely shook his head slightly. "I won't be able to relax until your sexy ass is safe back at NCIS."

She couldn't help but give a small smile of her own. "I am not leaving here without your little hairy butt either."

Tony merely shook his head again. "You don't have a choice, Zee. Someone's gotta tell Gibbs and McGee what happened. Someone's gotta make it out of here breathing instead of in a body bag."

"Do not say that!" Ziva practically shouted. "Do not **dare** say that! You cannot give up, Tony! You just cannot! I refuse to allow it! I will not **let** you allow it!"

Tony smiled. "Now you're starting to sound like Gibbs."

"Damn it Tony, why did you leap in front of me? Why did you do this to yourself? Why…?"

"I couldn't let it happen… to you." He gave a slight choking cough. "Couldn't let you take another hit. This… this isn't the way I pictured this happening. Never thought I'd place bleeding out on a concrete floor in my top 10 ways to die. But… maybe this isn't so bad after all. Better me than you."

Ziva paled and her body heaved with more emotion than she ever thought it possible to achieve; she had to force herself to hold onto him tighter to prevent herself from dropping him back down on the floor in shock at his words.

"Tony, please. I… I must tell you something. Something I should have told you a long time ago…"

"Shhhh." He tightened his grasp on her fingers. "It's okay."

"Tony, please let me say it." She was quickly running out of time. "I have to tell you before…

"You never had to say it, sweet cheeks."He gave her a weak, but reassuring smile. "You never have had to say anything…"

"Damn it Tony, shut up and let me tell you! I **need** you to hear me say it. I need you to hear what I have wanted- needed- to say for a long time. I will no longer let the bat catch me by the tongue!"

He gave an amused chuckle. "That's my crazy ninja."

"Damn you, Tony! Damn it all to hell! I care about you! I care about you like I could never care for anyone else. And I would probably be killed for having such strong feelings for anyone back in Mossad, but I do not care! It is true! And I would not have it any other way!"

Without hesitation, she slid her left arm under his head and gently lifted him towards her. Leaning down, she pressed her lips to his and kissed him- desperately, as though she knew she would not have another chance. What a cruel sense of irony; their first kiss was also to be their last…

She could taste the combination of blood and sweat on his lips, but she couldn't care less; it was all his and she embraced and cherished it wholeheartedly.

"Wow." Tony said slowly as she carefully pulled away. "Who'd know that the best kisses you receive are the ones when you are just about to…"

"Do not say it! Tony, you are **not** going to die! You will not! You are going to be alright- just hang on! You cannot just leave me alone like this! I… I will kill you myself before I let you leave like this!"

"Ziva…" he said in a quiet voice that she presumed was meant to be comforting. "It's alright. It's going to be alright. There is no better way I could imagine… than being here with you. My deadly little assassin… the strongest, most beautiful woman I've ever known. That's the kind of attitude NCIS needs. That's the kind of attitude the world needs. You take care of the rest of them, alright? Gibbs and McGee and Abby and Ducky- hell, even Palmer. They're all good people; just make sure you have their sixes. Especially McGee; he's going to be a great field agent."

"He learned from the best." Ziva said in voice that shook from trying desperately to hold back her tears. "And he will continue to learn from the best. You will be there to make sure of it."

Tony smiled and lifted a hand to stroke her cheek. "No, Zee; **you'll** be there to make sure of it."

Ziva felt her body shake as she stared down at him. How could she let this happen? In Mossad, she was always trained that showing emotions and getting close to people made you a liability but she wasn't with Mossad anymore. She was with NCIS. She was now an American. And she had fallen for a man who had so many times driven her crazy but at the same time shown her that just because one is alive doesn't mean that they are **living**. Tony meant the world to her; without him, she wasn't sure if she could go on. In that moment, she wished **she** were the one lying bleeding out on the floor instead of him; at least it would mean he would be safe…

Tony gave another bad-sounding cough as he shook in her arms. As she looked down on him, a look of both fear and worry on her face, he tried to give her another smile but came up short. She stared at him and after a moment, he said, shaken and quietly, "It hurts, Ziva…"

Her heart broke into a thousand pieces. She could feel tears sting in her eyes, and no matter how much she blinked she couldn't make them go away. "Tony…"

"Ziva," he tightened his hand on hers, "it's alright. You're safe- that's all that matters. Anything was worth your life to me- even if it means I lose my own. After all the times you've saved my ass, I figured the least I could do was save your sexy one. At least it's made a difference. At least you're still alive."

"But I will not be truly alive." Ziva bit her lip to keep it from trembling. "I cannot live without you, Tony. I cannot lose you again."

"You'll never lose me, Zee. As long as you never forget about me, you'll never lose me." He gave another attempt at a grin. "Besides, how will you ever be able to forget me after all the movie quotes I've told you? You'll never be able to watch another movie without wondering if I've quoted from it."

She gave a small grin through her tears. He was right; how could she ever forget Tony's litany of movie quotes?

Tony gave another coughing/choking sound and Ziva felt her heart drop; this was it, she knew.

And yet he kept a firm but comfortable grip on her hand. Staring directly into her eyes, he murmured in a voice barely above a whisper:

_"I love you, Ziva…"_

Tears began leaking out of the Ziva's eyes. Without hesitation, she tightened her own hand around his and whispered back in the same tone:

_"I love you too, Tony…"_

A small smile appeared on his face, just for a second. Then, slowly, she felt his grip on her hand loosen. His head dropped slowly back to the ground, his eyes slowly closing in the act. His chest gave one last rise and fall- and then stopped moving.

The tears poured down in streams on Ziva's cheeks. Keeping an iron grip on his hand, her eyes became blurred as the realization hit; Tony DiNozzo- her partner, her friend, her **soul mate**- was dead. All the pain and suffering she had suffered in her entire life, including Somalia, did not hurt half as much as the way she felt now. It was as if the entire weight of the world had just come crashing down on her- especially on her heart.

Collapsing down onto his blood-soaked chest, she continued to cry uncontrollably. In between sobs, she managed to say one last thing to her lost love:

_"I always loved you…"_

**A/N: Well? Good enough for an in-depth review? Tell me how it is! Positive, negative- I don't care! Just hit the review button!**


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